52 Things Nick Loves About Jess
by Hisa-Ai
Summary: Sometimes it's hard for Nick to put into words the specific things he loves about Jess, so we'll do it for him. Chapter Three: Nick wipes out and scrapes up his leg, so Jess takes it upon herself to clean and dress his wound.
1. She's Good With Babies

**So originally this was supposed to be a collection of 52 drabbles, but, in case you didn't know this by now, I suck at short. I do. I can't write a drabble to save my life, so I'm setting a more realistic goal: nothing over 2,000 words – not including A/Ns.**

**Anyway, this was sparked by a post I saw over on tumblr: it was just a picture of a deck of cards with the words "52 Reasons Why I Love You" written on the front one, and, of course, I had New Girl on my mind at the time, so this little beauty came into the world as the title of this popped into my head**

**So, this is going to be 52 chapters long, and each of the chapters are going to focus on one reason why Nick loves Jess. **

**Bam**

**That's all there is to it. **

**There's going to be as much fluff in this collection as I can manage and I promise there will be no heartbreaking here. This is a safe place, guys, so you can let your guard down here. I promise not to break your heart or kill your soul. This collection is _sacred_; as long as you're here, I can promise you the following: I will not kill off Nick, I will not kill off Jess, I will not make you cry... Well, okay, I won't _try_ to make you cry, but if you cry out of happiness or whatever, well, that's a different matter altogether... So, that is my promise to you: No character death. No character death in _this_ collection. **

**Doesn't that make you _happy_?**

**I did make a list, BTDub. I saved a file on my computer called "52 Reasons" and I think you know what I'm talking about. I haven't finished the list yet – I'm up to 30 so far – so if you have any you'd like to suggest, review or PM me, or get in touch with me over at tumblr – there's a link on my profile.**

**I'm not gonna do the chapters in the order they're in on my list, but I'm gonna get the whole list done eventually and would actually like to see how much of it I can get done this summer...**

**Anyway, here's the first chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own New Girl, guys. If I did, I'd be getting paid to write _fanfiction_ and since I am obviously still poor, that's clearly not my reality.

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**Chapter One:  
List Item Number Five:  
**_She's Good With Babies._

* * *

**Fic:**

Sadie needed a break.

Melissa needed a break.

Just one afternoon without their little bundle of… _joy_. Because as much as they loved their daughter, if they didn't get one afternoon of uninterrupted Sadie and Melissa time, at least one of them was going to seriously consider chucking their baby out the freaking window.

So... it would probably be for the best if they could get someone to watch the baby for a few hours while they took some time to themselves.

And, of course, when Jess heard that Sadie was looking for someone to watch the baby, she had jumped at the chance, popping by Sadie and Melissa's apartment to pick the baby and all her supplies for the day up before Sadie could get another word in edge wise on the matter.

They thanked her profusely as Sadie handed the squirming baby over to her with her diaper bag full of things for the day and a car seat to safely transport the bundle of joy and told Jess she would stop by the loft to pick her up around eight or so. Jess told her to take her time; she had no problem looking after the baby for the afternoon. It wasn't like she had anywhere to be; Nick was picking up an afternoon shift at the bar, Winston was already at work, Schmidt was out with Elizabeth, and Cece was out of town for some modeling gig. It was just her until Nick came home that night, so she didn't mind the company at all. Even _if_ it was the company of someone who couldn't hold an intelligent conversation.

Once Jess got the baby back to the loft in one piece, she set about making the place as baby friendly as possible. She spilt the contents of the diaper bag on the table and made her way through the rest of the afternoon with the numerous toys and books and, of course, diapers and bottles before finally setting her back down in her car seat to finish the nap she had started in Jess' arms.

She quietly worked her way around the table to the kitchen to get a drink from the fridge. Geez, she hadn't known how _exhausting_ babies could be! She made a mental note to offer to take care of the baby for Sadie and Melissa more often; they deserved a break from it all every now and then…

Just as she screwed the top off her water bottle and reveled in the quiet and peace that fell over the loft, the front door clicked open and slammed shut before she could warn whomever it was to keep quiet. On cue, the baby started bawling in that way that babies had after being abruptly woken up and Jess scurried over to her, knocking her water all over the counter.

"Shit…" she mumbled under her breath as she picked the baby up, holding her against her shoulder as she rocked back and forth in place, shushing her and whispering soothing words to try to make up for her dirty word. With her back to the door, she prepared a glare for whoever had had the _nerve_ to slam the door like that! She spun around on her heel, face hardened as she tried still to get her to hush up.

Standing at the other end of the table with a coy smile on his face, Nick held his keys and a white bag in his hands, the bag frozen in the air as though he'd gone to set it down on the table but had been distracted from simple body movements before it could quite make it.

"Nick! Why they hell did you do that?" Jess whispered harshly, rubbing the baby's back as she started calming down, her loud, ear-shattering tears now gurgling sobs.

"I didn't know you had company." He told her apologetically, his arm resuming the action of setting the bag down on the table. He glanced around the loft and noticed the baby bottles sitting on the tables and counter, the pile of clean diapers sitting on the counter, the rattles and toys and pacifiers and books and other miscellaneous baby stuff thrown about haphazardly as though the baby itself had become a whirlwind of excitement and toys during playtime…

Why was Jess holding a baby again?

"Something I should know?" he asked, eyebrows quirked as he let his keys fall to the table in a jumble, the sound they made as they hit the table making the baby stir slightly. Jess shot Nick another warning look and he held his hands up in surrender. He had forgotten; so sue him.

"She's not _mine_, Nick," Jess rolled her eyes at his implications, still bouncing around as the baby's head drooped on her shoulder, her drool pooling on Jess' shoulder as her eyes drooped shut once again. "Don't you think you would have noticed if I was pregnant?" she asked, noticing his eyes resting on her curiously as she slowed her rocking ever so slightly, still moving around just enough to make sure the baby was sleeping before she leaned down carefully and placed the baby back into her carrier. She watched her carefully as she stirred for a moment before settling back down, blue eyes firmly closed, chubby cheeks tugging into a small smile. With a sigh of relief, Jess turned back to Nick, his eyes darting between Jess and the baby.

Without warning, he quietly approached her and took her in his arms, hands gently cupping her waist and face, pulling her close as he kissed her like there _wasn't_ a baby in the room. Jess smiled against him, his warmth and cologne reminding her that there were _adults_ in this world who enjoyed the comfort of her touch as well. Dealing with a baby all afternoon had made her forget that fact for a little bit.

"What was that for?" she asked when they popped apart, the smaller kisses melting out before he let her go completely.

Nick reached a hand out and brushed some of her now wild hair back behind her ear – the baby had a habit of hair pulling, so it seemed, and it more than irritated Jess at moments – and smiled at her, his eyes half-lidded as he kissed her again.

"You're so good with babies," he murmured against her skin, not minding that it smelled mildly like baby powder and formula.

Jess smiled as Nick walked around the table to look down at the sleeping baby, curious and wondering, a smile plaguing his face as he took in her still face. He scrunched his eyebrows together for a moment and then shook it off, a shadow of doubt and uncertainty quickly replaced by one of phantom happiness. What was going on in his mind, Jess could only guess…

"What's her name?" he asked quietly as Jess came up behind him and admired the sleeping beauty over his shoulder. She was dressed in a tiny pink dress and some white socks, her diaper bulging ever so slightly, ever the princess that all little girls were at that age.

"Sophie," she mumbled in his ear. "She's Sadie and Melissa's baby. They needed an afternoon off so I volunteered to watch her for them." she explained. Nick nodded silently and turned around.

"Sophie's a pretty name,"

"It's very pretty," Jess agreed, her eyes on the unreadable glint in Nick's. He shook his head with a smile and walked back to the bag he had brought in with him. Silently, he emptied its contents onto the table. Some DVDs, candy, a 2 liter of pop, and a pint of ice cream. He had been planning for a night in, but then again, that was before he had known about their little visitor.

"I _really_ wish you would've called me to tell me you were baby-sitting." He told her, gesturing to the layout on the table. "I thought we could watch some movies, eat some ice cream, and then have some _adult fun_," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively in that way of his that she hated _so much_! She slapped his arm playfully and giggled as quietly as she could before he continued. "But I don't think that'd be such a great idea while there's a baby in the loft. And anyway, seeing one of those might scare me off sex for a while," he teased, gesturing towards Sophie's sleeping form.

Jess laughed and shook her head. "We use protection." She reminded him, picking up the DVDs to look over what he had picked out.

"That's not one hundred-percent effective, though. Didn't you take ninth grade health class?"

"Stop being such a _baby_, Nick," she rolled her eyes, abruptly ending that back-and-forth as she picked up a box of candy and Nick walked the ice cream over to the freezer, then picked up some glasses and filled them with ice. As he walked everything over to the couch, Jess grabbed Sophie in her carrier and carefully moved her from the table to in front of the couch where they could keep an eye on her while they watched their movie.

They popped in a DVD, sat down with the boxes of candy and soda, and got about halfway through their movie – some action flick they had both wanted to see – before baby Sophie decided she'd had enough sleep and interrupted their movie time with a sharp cry that made Nick flinch. He paused the movie and looked at Jess wide eyed, not knowing what to do about it.

Jess rolled her eyes and gestured for Nick to hand the baby to her. He gladly obeyed and watched as Jess went through to determine what was wrong with Sophie.

She needed a diaper change.

And then she was hungry.

And then… then she just wanted some attention. So Jess had Nick bring some toys over to the couch and play with the baby with her. Though Nick did more watching than actual playing, Jess didn't seem to notice, much too wrapped up in making Sophie giggle and grip at the toys and books. She didn't even mind – or rather, she didn't let it _show _– when the baby grabbed a fist-full of her hair or ripped the book out of her hands or even threw up on her favorite blouse.

How the hell did she stay so _calm_? Nick wondered as he watched the spectacle, shaking his head in wonder.

Before they knew it, it was eight-fifteen and Sadie and Melissa were at the front door, looking well rested and much more… _sane_ and _stable_ than they had seemed when Jess had first picked up Sophie from them. Jess handed the drowsy baby over to Sadie with a smile as Nick handed Melissa her repacked diaper bag and the car seat/carrying device thingy, whatever the hell it was called; he wasn't a baby expert.

"Thank you again for doing this, Jess!" Sadie whispered gratefully for the hundredth time.

Jess brushed her off with a smile, she was glad to help. She was beyond tired, but the bags under her eyes said that so her mouth didn't need to. She was tired, sure, but she didn't mind. Taking care of baby Sophie had been _fun_, and she was _so good_ at it, Nick thought to himself, snaking an arm around Jess' shoulders to pull her close, letting her rest her head on his shoulder for a minute as he kissed the top of her head.

"How did she do, Nick?" Sadie asked him to make conversation, already knowing the answer.

"She was wonderful. She's really great with babies," he mused, his eyes glancing down at her lovingly. A look passed between Sadie and Melissa before they said their goodbyes and walked off, promising to take Jess up on her offer of watching Sophie again the next time they needed a break.

"Come on, Jess," Nick tugged Jess away from the door as he locked it and then led her into her bedroom. She kicked off her shoes and made herself comfortable, passing out before Nick could say another word. With a content sigh, he tucked her under the blankets and walked from the room, leaving her sleeping like the baby she had taken such good care of that afternoon.

**Fin.**

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**You know, I really hate babies. I'm not a terrible person, I just really sort of _hate_ babies. They cry a lot and they can't tell you what they want and you're genuinely responsible for keeping another human being alive. Like, that scares the shit out of, guys. Also, babies are kinda creepy. Sorry, but if my parents want grandchildren some day, they're gonna be looking at my brothers, not at me. Like, I can barely take care of myself most days – I'm not the kind of person you'd want responsible for how another being turns out. And sometimes I forget to feed my dogs – thankfully, I still live at home so _someone_ does it when I forget – and if you do that with babies _bad things_ happen. I'm just sayin'.**

**Anyway, I've wanted to do something with Ness and Sadie's baby for a while now, and while this still isn't _quite_ what I wanted, it'll do for now. It was a good way to get this list item done, so I can live with it for now.**

**Also, I named the baby after an awesome roomfriend of mine from tumblr. Just so you know.**

**Remember, if you have any suggestions for the 52 Reasons list, I'm all ears.**

_Always,  
Hisa-Ai._


	2. Her Kisses Are Mood Altering

**So this chapter was inspired by a suggestion I recently received in a review for the first chapter. It was an anonymous review, but they used the name Tia, so, you know, thanks for the suggestion, Tia! I was actually working on a different chapter entirely, but then I got the review and I just had to sink my teeth into this one. Her suggestion was actually "Nick loves Jess because when he kisses her he just feels better!" I played around with the idea a bit, but that was the suggestion that was made, what inspired this chapter.**

**I've gotten a few really awesome suggestions from you guys here and over on tumblr for ideas for future chapters of this fic, so thanks so much you guys! Keep 'em coming! Seriously, I received some suggestions for stuff that should have been _so obvious_ but that I never thought of myself, so if you have any ideas let me know through a review or a PM or get in touch with me over at tumblr - there's a link to my blog on my profile. Because you guys are all so awesome and probably have ideas I haven't even thought of yet.**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own New Girl in _this_ universe. Perhaps in an alternate universe - that's the coolest AU, BTDub, the one where I own New Girl. No, second coolest; the first coolest being the one where I'm married to my top celebrity crush. But, alas, that isn't this one, so, you know, sadness...

* * *

**Chapter Two:  
****List Item Number 34:  
**_Her Kisses Are Mood-Altering_

* * *

**Fic:**

Nick had had a bad day at work.

His new boss – _not _ Shane. Though he would have chosen Shane over this hard ass bitch any day of the week, thank you very much – had decided to come sit in on Nick's shift that day to see how good he was at his job. But really, it wasn't like it was rocket science or anything. All he had to do was take the order, serve the order, collect the money, make sure no one got killed in a bar fight, not let anyone get so drunk they died of alcohol poisoning, listen to them spill their guts when the need over-took them... He was their baby-sitter, basically. And he was fine with that.

But he was not fine with his bitch of a boss coming over to him from her seat down the bar to tell him he'd served his last beer wrong. Like, hello, how do you serve a beer _wrong_? Nick was a good bartender in that he spent a lot of his downtime researching beer and liquor and how to serve and drink them in socially acceptable ways. He knew how to serve a beer, damnit.

His whole damn shift she had been on his ass – that's not how you should clean that glass, you shouldn't offer so many people nuts, you shouldn't pay so much attention to any one customer, why didn't you leave that man to his crying and attend to the woman waiting for a refill, use a smaller glass for that one, you should put the ice in first – so by the time he got off work and stumbled into the loft, he was _so done_ with women for the day.

He settled in with a beer – which he poured into a glass _his way_ just to spite the memory of his new boss – and watched some lame sit-com that was on TV as he waited for his anger to melt away, even though he knew it never would. Not completely, anyway.

"Hey stranger," He flinched at the sound of Jess' voice – he loved her and everything, but the high pitch of it that said "female" reminded him of his new boss and how he hated all females for the next few hours because of her – even though he didn't mean to. She was a female; his boss was a female. He loved Jess; he hated his boss. There was a difference, sure, but the bottom line was that they shared a gender, so…

"What's wrong?" Jess cooed, Nick's glare tearing away from the television set to land on Jess instead. His eyes softened ever so slightly as he took in the worry lines plaguing her features. She was wearing a top that hugged her body perfectly that he _knew_ she was wearing for his benefit and some shorts with swirling patterns on them that matched her eyes. His eyes looped back up to hers, a goofy smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Nothing. It's just… I got a new boss today…" he explained slowly, setting his beer down on the table in front of them. Jess nodded slowly, prompting him to continue with his story. With a sigh, he explained his shift and how everything had unfolded, how everything had fallen apart, how she had been up his ass sideways about every little thing, and how he was pretty much done with women for the night because of her. He hadn't meant to let the last sentence slip out to his _girlfriend_, of all people, of course, but before he could stop himself it was out in the open for them to deal with. _Shit_.

Jess' mouth tugged upwards carefully, she had been so understanding during his little tirade, but his last sentence had amused her, nonetheless. "You _do_ know that _I'm_ a woman…" she said, her smile growing wider by the second.

"Yeah, Jess; _pretty _aware of that…" Nick rolled his eyes down her body suggestively, trying not to break out into a smile until he knew where she was going with this.

"So…" she pouted suddenly, Nick's eyes flashing with the concern that he'd upset her. "Does that mean you're done with _me_?" she asked in a whisper, leaning into him slightly so he could feel her warmth, feel his anger almost wanting to melt away instantly.

"Hmm, I don't know…" he teased as her direction became clear, finally allowing his lips to tug upwards. He wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close to inhale her scent. She didn't smell like the bar, so maybe he could make an exception for her… "I mean, you're certainly pretty enough that I should just let that be all there is to it. But then again, you _do_ have all the girly parts and estrogen that just about handed me my own ass tonight… what to do, what to do…" he mused. Jess giggled and leaned into him more. With a thoughtful look, she held her face mere inches from his before continuing.

"Maybe I can change your mind about women tonight…" she leaned forward and closed the distance between them before he could ask how she intended to do that. He pulled her even closer so she melted against him for once instead of the other way around. She fell against his chest, still as gentle as possible so as not to scare him off women for real for the rest of the night, and stayed there for as long as she could manage, her kiss loving and deep and slow.

"How do you feel about us _now_?" she asked coyly as she slowly pulled away, Nick's hand resting against her cheek gingerly. He smiled and pulled her down once again, an answer in and of itself. Of course he was feeling much better about women _now_.

_Much better_.

Lucky for them, they had an advocate like Jess around to make their case, otherwise he might have serious issues with the whole gender...

With one more kiss, Jess wiped the rest of his anger away, leaving him in a much better mood to fully enjoy the crappy sit-com that was playing out on the television screen.

With Jess tucked at his side, her magic, mood-altering kisses available at his convenience, Nick knew then that he could handle his new boss. Even if he had to enlist Jess to take up a permanent seat at the bar while he worked every night, to make her kisses even more readily available so he didn't explode on his boss and lose his job.

Any excuse to kiss her, he supposed, was a good one.

**Fin.**

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**You know how - if you're a girl, or a gay guy I guess, but I don't really know if gay guys have this conversation with themselves or others... Any info on that? - when a guy does something that really pisses you off and you're just like, "That's it! I'm fucking done with all men for the rest of fucking forever!" But then ten seconds later you see a picture of a really hot guy on tumblr or wherever and you change your mind? This is... _Nick's_ equivalent of that. He's just all, "_Fuck_ women," but then Jess kisses him and he's like "Fuck _women,_" You know? Or should that be switched around?**

**No, this is gonna bug me now. Girls - straight girls anyway - say that they're done with guys all the time, but do gay guys ever have a fight with with their boyfriend and be all, "I am so fucking done with men right now! I'm just gonna be fucking straight from now on and sleep with women - not as much drama..." Seriously, I want to know now...**

**Anyway, I think I... Did I have a point? I don't... I don't think so...**

**So, again, if you have any suggestions for the list, you know where to find me. And I'm gonna include Cece, Schmidt, and/or Winston in future chapters, I promise! But, like, with Ness scenes I just like for everyone else to be out and doing their own thing so that if Nessex wants to happen it can happen without interruption, you know?**

**This hiatus might be wearing on me a bit...**

_Always,  
Hisa-Ai._


	3. She's Good At Patching Him Up

**Sooo I feel like a pretty crappy roomfriend right now for not updating this fic through-out the summer like I'd planned on doing. I slip between obsessions pretty quickly sometimes, and Teen Wolf was pretty much my life this summer. The third season of New Girl starts soon so I've been feeling pretty inspired to write more for this fandom lately and so here is the third chapter of this one. I'm currently working on the second chapter of "The Test" and the next chapter of "His Fault." If I don't have a chapter for either of those up within the week, I'm going to have to rely on you guys to really get on my ass over that. Seriously, PM me, bother me on tumblr, whatever it takes to get me to update those before the new season starts. I want to have both of those finished by the 17th, so really get on my ass if you need to.**

**Aaaanyway, this was inspired by me being a bit of clutz and scraping up my leg a couple of months ago. I tripped over the curb and messed up my right leg pretty bad—that shit's a _scar_ now, guys, and it still looks hella nasty.**

**Disclaimer: **Mmm, still don't own New Girl. Nope, didn't magically acquire it during the hiatus. Yeah, I'm upset about it, too...

* * *

**Chapter Three:  
****List Item Number 37:**  
She's Good At Patching Him Up

* * *

**Fic:**

For some ungodly reason, Nick had allowed Schmidt and Winston to goad him into a foot race. He knew it was a terrible idea even as he allowed himself to agree to it. He was out of shape, not a very good runner, and he had more than a couple of beers in him. It was not a good idea by _any_ means.

Yet he somehow allowed himself to be coaxed out of the loft on his Saturday afternoon off and out onto the block outside the loft.

He then allowed himself to line up with Schmidt and Winston in a line, allowed himself to agree to a race around the block, the first one to come back to the front of the loft won. Won what? Bragging rights. Somehow, he allowed himself to agree to it all.

And then he allowed himself to propel forward on his feet when he, Schmidt, and Winston all declared in unison, "On your mark… get set… GO!"

Schmidt, being in the best shape between the three, took his position at the front of the group, and Winston and Nick fought for second place, both winded and struggling to out-do the other. First place would go to Schmidt, but that still left second place. And damnit if they didn't both want it _bad_, so they struggled forward, their lungs burning and their arms pushing through the air, feeling the world zip by as they watched out of the corners of their eyes to see the progress of their competition.

Nick couldn't believe it, he might actually have a _shot_ at second place! They were so close to the apartment building now, if he could just get ahead of Winston, he could win. Well, not _win,_ but he could get second place at least. In the distance, Schmidt's smirking form was waiting for them, marking the finishing point. If Nick could only—

_Shit_.

With a groan, Nick found himself flung forward and onto the hot, hard cement in front of him. He lifted his head slowly and saw Winston race past Schmidt, celebrating his victory over Nick with Schmidt before either of them noticed Nick slowly pulling himself up. They rushed over to him, pulled him to his feet, asked him if he was okay, what he had tripped over, and things of the such. He brushed them off—he was _fine_. He had just tripped over his own two feet. He wasn't used to running like that, after all.

With shrugs, Winston and Schmidt led the way back up into the loft, laughing about something or another while Nick trailed behind them, his leg and arms throbbing with every step he took.

It wasn't until he came back into the loft behind his two idiot friends that he even thought to assess the damage. How bad could it have been if he was still able to walk, after all? Granted, every step hurt like hell, but still...

"What the hell happened to you?" Jess asked as he limped over to the couch. Schmidt and Winston plopped down on the couch on either side of the pair, both smirking triumphantly.

"He got _served_ is what's wrong with him." Schmidt nodded, looking to Winston for support. Winston just shook his head, not about to be part of _that_ train-wreck of a sentence, thank you very much.

"We... had a race. I lost, obviously." Nick grumbled, rubbing his stinging leg through his jeans.

Jess pursed her lips and flipped off the television set, she had walked in not even five minutes ago from a hard afternoon of shopping with Cece and all she wanted to do was watch some TV and relax... But this was certainly interesting. A race? Nick Miller? He was incredibly out of shape—why would he agree to a race?

"Why did you guys have a _race?__" _she asked with a laugh, amused. Nick frowned and inspected his hands and arms, a little sore, but no blood, no broken bones, so all was good. But his leg...

"Because Nicholas is very weak willed. Once I convinced Winston to race me it was only a matter of time before Nick caved as well," Schmidt supplied.

"This is _your_ fault?" Jess demanded, her hard eyes on him in a second.

"No... I... Winston made me do it!"

"What? No, uh-uh, this was _your_ idea, Schmidt! You did it! You made us both race you because neither Cece nor Elizabeth are speaking or sleeping with you and you need to get your kicks— "

"My kicks, _Winston_? You think _winning_ turns me on?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Well... all right, you're kind of right, I did get a little excited—"

"_Ew_! Both of you—stop talking!" Jess demanded, their argument dying out into grumbling targeted at one another under their breaths. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Nick and the way his frown conveyed more than his typical discomfort.

"Honeybear, are you all right?" she asked, her hand coming to cup his cheek. Schmidt and Winston resisted the urge to roll their eyes at the pet name, they were already on Jess' bad side for the moment, no need to add to their misery.

"I'm fine, dollface, I just... kind of... _fell_." Nick grumbled, reaching a hand down to rub his leg.

"You _fell_? Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself? Let me see," she insisted, reaching a hand down to tug up his pants leg when he proved to be going too slow for her taste. He relented, let her yank his jeans leg up as far as she could before she let out a gasp, sending a wave of fear up his spine. What if it was worse than he thought and he just hadn't noticed it because he was having some sort of adrenaline rush and—

"Take off your pants." she demanded without another word, getting up from the couch and bouncing towards the bathroom. Nick stared at Winston and Schmidt wide-eyed, unsure if he'd heard her right.

"Did she just— "

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

"And why— "

"Don't know."

"Don't wanna know."

"How bad is it?" Nick asked then, looking down to his leg to get a better look. He saw a hint of blood, but he didn't get what she—

"I told you to take off your pants." Jess said, exasperated as she sat back down between him and Schmidt. She had a first-aid kit in her hands and had it opened in seconds, taking out some disinfectant wipes and some sort of ointments and liquids that he _knew_ meant trouble for him.

"But... _why_?" Usually, he didn't need to be told twice by her to take off his pants, but in front of Winston and Schmidt? That might bother him once they were done...

"Because, you idiot, you hurt your leg, it's bleeding, and I need to clean it so it doesn't get infected and you lose that leg."

"Ooh, yeah, okay; that makes sense." he nodded, standing to his feet and unbuckling his belt.

"Why did you _think_ I wanted you to strip?" she asked provocatively, wiggling her eyebrows as she ripped open a couple of wipes in preparation for his, er, _treatment._

"Please, _please_, do not answer that," Winston begged, coming to his feet as Nick slowly and carefully pulled his pants down, revealing his red plaid boxers and angry, bleeding scrapes and scratches on his left leg. Ouch!

"Like they need to! We hear you two at night, you know—_such animals_!" Schmidt clucked disapprovingly, shaking his head as he walked to the kitchen with Winston, opting for food and more beer rather than the spectacle the newest couple in the loft were sure to make.

Nick rolled his eyes as Jess pushed him back to the couch, not bothering to mention all the noise they put up with that came from Schmidt's room, whether he was with a girl or _not._

Jess pursed her lips as she instructed Nick to put his leg up on the table in front of them and quickly wiped the blood off his leg to assess the damage. More blood came out as soon as the old blood was wiped up, however, so she carefully folded up the wipe and pressed down on his leg, holding it in place to slow the bleeding.

Nick grimaced, Jess' delicate little fingers caressing his injury as carefully as she could. With the beer slowly working its way out of his system in liue of the pain eminating from the spot just beneath her fingers, he couldn't focus on much more other than that. It was slowly consuming his whole body—Was his arm scraped? Had he hit his head? Was the other leg just as bad?—his face holding a panicky sort of look that he was sure Jess didn't like. Still holding the wipe over his wound, Jess took her free hand and tilted Nick's face down towards her, smiling just before she leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"It's just a scrape—a really nasty one, but you're gonna be fine. Sit still and let me fix you up now," she told him, planting a kiss on the end of his nose before turning her attention back to his leg. He pursed his lips but let her do her work, watching intently as she wiped away the rest of the blood and ripped open a bandage. He flinched as she smoothed it onto the scrape, getting it off was going to hurt like a _bitch, _but he wasn't going to complain. Watching her fix him up, take care of him like that... It was _hot_.

Finally finished with his leg, she sealed up the first-aid kit and sat it on the table, giving the rest of him a quick look-over to make sure there was nothing else that needed her attention at the moment. Satisfied that she'd taken care of him, she sat back on the couch and smiled up at him as he wrapped an arm around her. His own personal nurse—he could think of plenty fun things to do with that thought...

"Are you in any pain?" she asked him suddenly, looking up at him under her lashes. The TV set was still off, the pair of them just sitting on the couch in silence, their thoughts and each other's company all there was at the moment—aside from Winston and Schmidt's conversation sailing in from the kitchen, of course.

"Pain?" he asked, wondering what might bring about the question before he remembered the throbbing emanating from his leg. Jess might have cleaned it up, but damn was it still hurting—now that she mentioned it, anyway...

"Yeah, _pain._ Do you need some Tylenol or something? Can't believe I forgot to give you something for the pain! I'm such an idiot!" Jess mumbled under her breath, untangling herself from Nick to reach for the first-aid kit again, surely there was some sort of pain-killer she could give him—

"Jess, it's fine," he told her, catching her arm and pulling her back to the couch. "I'm not in that much pain," he told her as he wrapped his arm around her again, pulled her closer to his side.

"You sure?" she asked, her brows creasing in concern.

"I'm _sure_. You're all the pain killer I need," he told her, trying to be flirty, seductive even as he leaned down to steal a kiss. Jess laughed against his mouth and shook her head when she pulled back, still giggling as he frowned slightly. She kissed him again then, trying to make up for it.

Of course, given his injured state, she was more prone that night to planting soft kisses to him, letting him steal even more kisses at sometimes inconvenient times—not that either of them minded it in the least.

**Fin.**

* * *

**I really had a hard time figuring out how to phrase what this chapter's called, and I'm still not satisfied with what I settled on, but, eh, good enough, right? If you have any ideas that you think would be better, though, I'm open to suggestions.**

**This isn't my favorite chapter ever, but I think it's a good start to getting back into the New Girl fanfiction scene after a summer of being on break, don't you? **

**Ahh, it's so late, guys; I'm _exhausted_, but I thought I owed it to you all to get this up before getting myself off to bed—you guys _better_ appreciate this...**

**Always,  
**_~Hisa-Ai~_


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